The Daddy Project

by Lee McKenzie

  “We should go in,” she said. This time she didn’t wait for him to come around and open her door.

  The house was quiet when they went inside. Almost too quiet. The family room-turned-campground was still a chaotic mess of camping gear.

  Nate looked inside the tent and laughed. “Take a peek.”

  Gemmy, sprawled on her side on top of Molly’s and Martha’s sleeping bags, filled the entire space. Hercules was curled up under her chin. Both were sound asleep. Kristi pulled out her camera and snapped a photograph of them. “This has to be the cutest thing ever.”

  The patio doors were open and voices drifted in from the backyard.

  “The kids must be out in the playhouse,” Nate said. “I’ll go check on them.”

  “I’ll come with you and let Jenna know I’m back. She needs a ride to the mall to meet her friend.”

  They walked together across the patio and found the three girls crowded into the playhouse. The twins each wore a dress that flowed to the floor. Molly’s was bright shimmery turquoise and Martha’s was a lavender sequined number. A sash fashioned from a scarf was draped diagonally across the top of each girl’s dress.

  Jenna had combed out their pigtails and given each girl a unique hairdo. The contents of her makeup bag were strewn across the top of a little table. Molly’s vivid aqua eye shadow and bright pink blush coordinated with her dress, and Martha’s purple-rimmed eyes matched hers.

  “Daddy!” Molly twirled and curtsied. “Look at us! Jenna did our makeup.”

  Kristi had to press her lips together to keep from laughing out loud. They looked a little outlandish and absolutely adorable. “You guys look so sweet. Jenna did a great job of—”

  One glance at Nate wiped the smile off Kristi’s face. He was not impressed. He was angry. Really angry.

  “Molly. Martha. Get out of those clothes and in the house, now.”

  “Daddy, we’re playing,” Martha said. “Me an’ Molly are beauty queens.”

  “In the house,” he repeated. “I want you to go in the bathroom and scrub that makeup off your faces. Now.”

  Molly struck a defiant pose. “I don’t want to.”

  “Now.” He backed away from the playhouse door and waited, indicating he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

  Jenna hastily swept her makeup into the case and zipped it up. “Go on, girls. You need to do what your dad says.”

  Martha wriggled out of her dress.

  “Why do we got to go in?” Molly asked.

  “Because I said so.”

  Because? Kristi cringed.

  Molly wasn’t giving up that easily. “We’re still playing.”

  What to do? Kristi wondered. Step in or stay out of it? If she sided with the girls, Nate would think she was interfering. If she sided with him, Jenna would think she’d done something wrong. That made staying out of the argument the best plan. The kids were just having some harmless fun and she didn’t understand why Nate was making it such a big deal, but she’d be wise to let things slide and try talking to him about it when they were alone.

  “You can find another game to play after you’re cleaned up.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes.

  Kristi gave her daughter a reassuring smile and a warning look that said, Let this one go. The last thing they needed was for Jenna to tell Nate that this was a load of crap.

  Molly stomped barefoot out of the playhouse. “I want to play dress-up with Jenna. She’s cool.”

  Kristi didn’t know what Nate thought of her daughter, but she’d bet cool wasn’t on the list.

  Jenna gathered up her things and followed Molly, bending down to fit through the door. Kristi put a reassuring arm around her shoulder. “Let me handle this,” she whispered.

  Nate held out his hands to his daughters. Martha took one, but Molly pulled away and grabbed Kristi’s instead. They trooped inside, a sullen-faced Jenna bringing up the rear. Nate hustled both girls, Molly still protesting loudly, down the hallway to the main bathroom.

  “I’ll go wait in the van.” Jenna grabbed her math books off the counter and stormed out the front door, leaving Kristi standing alone in the middle of the family room with only the sound of Gemmy snoring inside the tent.

  What the hell had just happened? She couldn’t even guess, but there’d be no point trying to talk to Nate until he’d calmed down. For now she didn’t want to keep Jenna waiting, but she had to let Sam know she was back, and that she was leaving again to run Jenna to the mall.

  She tapped lightly on the twins’ bedroom door and let herself in.

  “You’re back,” Sam said, pulling her earphones out of her ears. “What’s up?”

  Kristi closed the door behind her and filled Sam in on the dress-up fiasco. “Nate has them in the bathroom now, scrubbing off their makeup.”

  “Huh. That’s kind of over-the-top, but he must have his reasons.”

  “I’m sure he does, but he didn’t have to freak out. Poor Jenna’s sulking out in the van. I’ll have to smooth things over because we’re having brunch with Nate’s family tomorrow.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Sam said. “How was lunch?”

  “Good. Really nice, actually. And then we got here and everything went south.” Kristi looked around the room. “You’re putting on primer already? At this rate we’ll easily get the job wrapped up in a week or so, maybe less.”

  “That’s the beauty of fast-drying patching compound.” Sam set her paint roller on the edge of the tray and perched on the end of a sawhorse. “You might be finished with the house in a week, but I have a feeling you and Nate will be seeing each other after that.”

  Half an hour ago as they’d bumped forks over a brownie, Kristi would have agreed. He was the sexiest, smartest man she’d ever met. He was grounded, interested in all sorts of things, and contrary to her idea of a stereotypical professor, he had a great sense of humor. About some things, anyway.

  “I wouldn’t count on it. He’s really angry, and so is Jenna.”

  Sam popped the lid off a Tupperware container and took out a carrot stick. “Want one?” she asked.

  “No, thanks.”

  Sam crunched the carrot. “I can see you’re into this guy—this wouldn’t bother you if you weren’t—but don’t make it into a big deal, because it isn’t.”

  “I just met him,” Kristi reminded her. “What if this is how he reacts all the time? I can’t handle that.”

  “And you shouldn’t. All you need to do right now is relax and get to know him. If he turns out to be a jerk…or a deadbeat,” Sam said with a wink, “then don’t see him anymore.”

  Sam was right. Kristi had never let herself get crazy over a man, not since her divorce. What was different this time? She wasn’t ready to examine that question too closely. “When did you get so smart?” she asked instead.

  “When I let the man I love tear down my fortress. I thought I was protecting myself, but I was really just hiding, making excuses for not living my life. He saved me. I’m guessing you and Nate can do that for each other. If you’ll let him, that is.”

  Kristi hugged her. “I’m so happy for you. It’s a real-life fairy tale, and if anyone deserves a happy ending, it’s you.”

  “So do you, hon. You and Jenna. Don’t be too quick to slam the door this time.”

  Kristi’s BlackBerry buzzed. It was a text message from her daughter. Can we go now?

  “That’s Jenna.”


  “I’ll hold down the fortress till you get back,” Sam said, giving her a sly wink. “Just don’t slam that door on your way out.”

  “Subtle as always. I’ll be back in an hour.”

  Chapter Eight

  The mall parking lot was busier than usual for a Saturday afternoon. People must be getting ready for summer vacation, Kristi thought as she scanned the row ahead for a parking spot.

  Jenna’s cell phone buzzed. “It’s a text from Abbie. She’s meeting me at the main entrance. You can drop me off there.”

  “Is she already here?” Kristi asked. “If not, I’ll wait with you till she arrives.”

  “Mom! You’re treating me like a baby. I can be on my own for two minutes.”

  “What if something happens and she doesn’t show up? I don’t want you hanging around the mall on your own, and I don’t want to have to come back for you. Sam and I have a lot to do this afternoon.”

  “How much longer do you have to work there?”

  “Another week or so. Why?”

  “’Cause he’s a jerk. No way am I babysitting for him again.”

  Kristi let the remark about Nate slide. “He pays you, and I thought you liked the girls.”

  “Yeah, they’re cute. But Nate totally flipped out about me putting makeup on them. What’s that all about? It’s not like I got them tattoos or had their ears pierced.”

  He had overreacted, no question about that. “I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding,” Kristi said, even though she didn’t really believe it. “I’ll talk to him when I get back, smooth things over.”

  “Whatever.” Jenna’s phone buzzed again. “It’s Abbie. There she is, right over there.”

  Kristi pulled into a loading zone and waved to her daughter’s friend. “Her mom’s picking you up, right?”

  Jenna was already out of the van. “Yup.”

  “What time?”

  “Four-thirty.” The door slammed.

  “I’ll be home by five,” Kristi yelled.

  Jenna’s wave didn’t indicate whether or not she’d heard.

  Kristi scanned the shoppers streaming past Abbie. There was no sign of the two boys they’d been hanging out with, but that didn’t mean they weren’t waiting inside or planning to show up later.

  “She’s a good kid,” Kristi said out loud. She did a quick shoulder check before pulling away. She could trust Jenna to make good decisions, but they still needed to have that talk. “And you need to do it soon.”

  She would talk to Nate, too. She couldn’t understand his being annoyed about the makeup. After all, he was fine with the dress-up clothes. Something about the makeup had set him off, and she wanted to find out why. Partly because she wanted to get to know him better, especially if they were going to keep up this charade of dating but not dating, but mostly because of the way he’d treated Jenna. She was just a kid, after all. She’d meant no harm, and caused none as far as Kristi was concerned. Nate owed Jenna an apology, and Kristi didn’t mind telling him.

  * * *

  “THAT’S BETTER,” NATE said to the girls after their faces were clean and their hair brushed and put back into little-girl pigtails. As usual, Molly’s were a little lopsided because she wouldn’t sit still.

  Martha was still pouting. “We were playing. We weren’t being bad.”

  “I know, sweetie. But I don’t want you wearing makeup.”

  “Why?” Molly asked. “Grandma Alice put makeup on us and you didn’t get mad.”

  Oh, yes, he had. And now it was also clear that Alice had filled their heads with this pageant nonsense, otherwise they wouldn’t be dressing up as “beauty queens.” He should have called her the day she’d dropped off the head shots and told her no. Instead he’d used the house renovation as an excuse to put off the confrontation, and now he’d made an ass of himself in front of Kristi and Jenna.

  “Why can’t we wear makeup?” Molly asked again.

  “Because you’re too young.”

  “It’s just pretend,” Martha said. Was it his imagination, or had she become more talkative, even a little more assertive since Kristi had come into their lives? Right away he’d noticed that Kristi wouldn’t let Molly do her sister’s talking for her. Something he should have insisted on long ago, even though it meant having two headstrong little girls questioning his decisions.

  “I know you were just playing, but you don’t need makeup for that. You can use your imaginations.”

  “We had makeup at Halloween.”

  “That’s different.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it just is.” He took both girls by the hand and walked them down the hallway to the family room. “How would you like to watch a movie? We still have the DVD about rain-forest animals we borrowed from the library.”

  “Are you going to watch with us?” Martha asked.

  He supposed he could, at least until Kristi got back. Then he’d need to take her aside and apologize. He flipped open the plastic case and slid the disc into the player. “I’ll get it started for you. Then if Sam doesn’t need me to help with anything, I’ll come back and watch.”

  “Sam has a lot of tools,” Martha said. “I’m going to be a carpenter when I grow up.”

  “You are?” Not if he had anything to say about it. His daughters were going to college, not trade school, and definitely not beauty school, but that conversation could wait. He recalled, with a certain degree of distaste, what Kristi’d said last night about needing to have “the sex talk” with her daughter. At least talking about education and careers would be a lot easier.

  Molly bounced onto the sofa next to her sister. “I’m going to be like Jenna and wear makeup and be pretty and get a cell phone and a boyfriend.”

  Martha’s pigtails bounced in agreement.

  And we’re back where we started, Nate thought. How did parents get their young daughters to understand that what was inside their heads had far more value than what was on the outside? Did they have classes for that?

  He picked up the remote and pressed Play. “How do you know Jenna has a boyfriend?”

  “’Cause he wrote something on her phone.”

  “And she said it was from her boyfriend?” he asked, hoping he sounded casual.

  “Nope. She just said it was from a boy.”

  “His name’s Matt.”

  “But pretty girls like Jenna get boyfriends.” Seriously? When had Molly become an expert on teen dating?

  “Look at Herc and Gemmy.” Martha pointed at the dogs sleeping in the tent. “He’s her boyfriend.”

  Nate had to smile at that. If there was ever an unlikely pair, these two dogs were it. They’d really hit it off, but he still couldn’t believe his four-year-olds were talking about boyfriends.

  “The program’s starting,” he said. “Can you hear it okay or do you want me to turn it up?”

  “Up.” Molly reached for the remote. “I can do it.”

  Of course she could. He handed it to her. “I’ll be down the hall if you need me.”

  The girls were already engrossed in the opening segment of a pair of orangutans picking nits from one another’s fur. Too late now to worry about whether the film would demonstrate how primates made babies. He could already hear the questions. Daddy, why… And as usual, he wouldn’t know how to answer.

  * * *

  SAM WAS IN the girls’ room rolling primer on the walls, and it looked as though she was almost finished.


  “Nice work,” he said. She’d only started this morning and the room looked better already.

  “I have a system,” she said, without taking her eyes off the paint roller. “We like to get in and out with minimal disruption so our clients can sell their homes and get on with their lives.”

  Now that Kristi was “in,” he was in no hurry to have her out, although after his earlier outburst, she’d likely want the opposite. He hated to think about how badly he’d behaved, and he had to apologize as soon as she came back.

  “Is there anything you’d like me to do?”

  “It’d be great if you could give me a hand moving the bookshelves out of your office.” Sam stepped back from the wall and surveyed her work. Apparently satisfied, she wrapped her paint roller in a plastic bag and set it on the tarp-covered floor. “I’ll clean this later.”

  She picked up a clipboard and checked an item off her list. “Kristi asked me to talk to you about new shelving. Something with a lower profile instead of the floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall unit you have in here now.”

  “I’ve had this since I was a student. It was cheap and it served its purpose, but I won’t miss it.” Especially since, now that it was empty, it looked like something that belonged in a student’s dorm room. “I’m not sure what I’ll do with it but I’ll put it in the garage for now.”

  “I can help you move it out there, and I’ll bet Kristi can sell it for you.”

  “Really?” Someone would pay good money for this?

  “She lists items on a couple of online sites. You’d be surprised what people will buy if it’s priced right.”

  He didn’t think there was anything Kristi could do that would surprise him. Without talking they dismantled the shelving unit and stacked the parts in the hallway, but he finally felt the need to break the silence. “How did you get into this kind of work?”